Friday, September 11, 2009
DELPO LOVES NY
"My dream is to win this tournament," the soft-spoken Argentine said after stopping Marin Cilic 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-1 on Thursday to reach the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows.
"I'm so close to do it."
Del Potro will meet with third seeded Rafael Nadal or number 11 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile with a spot in the final at stake.
With a 15-1 record since Wimbledon, the sixth-ranked Del Potro is on a hot streak. He admits to being comfortable with the sights and sounds of the Big Apple.
When asked what he liked about New York and the Open, he did not hesitate.
"Everything. The stadium, the crowds, the people, the city. Everything. It's so lovely," he said. "I like to play here in U.S., and I like hardcourts. I like this tournament.
"It's my favourite surface, the biggest stadium than other (grand slams). Many Argentines come here to see the match, so for me, it's the best one."
REUTERS
RAIN DELAY
After 10 days of clear weather, rain and winds swept through Flushing Meadows Thursday, tossing the U.S. Open's final weekend into disarray and stranding Rafael Nadal and Fernando Gonzalez in the midst of their quarter-final.
For the second year running, Nadal faces the prospect of playing a string of successive days at the year's last major if he is to win the only grand slam missing from his collection.
Nadal was leading Gonzalez 7-6 6-6 with the Chilean serving at 2-3 in the tiebreak when a second shower burst halted Day 11 proceedings at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The eventual winner of the last men's quarter-final will meet Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, who had battled through blustery conditions to beat Croatian 16th seed Marin Cilic 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-1.
Nadal and Gonzalez will resume their battle no earlier than 2 pm today [Friday] following the first women's semi-final pitting champion Serena Williams against Kim Clijsters.
REUTERS
Thursday, September 10, 2009
FEAST TURNS TO FAMINE
Gourmet tennis for the gourmand.
First match around 2 pm and the second at 7 pm.
Am I swinish for wanting more, sir?
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
SPECTATOR PARTICIPATION
A man was arrested at the U.S. Open after running on the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium to kiss Rafael Nadal following his victory Tuesday night.
Tournament spokesman Tim Curry said police arrested the man for interference with a sporting event.
"We're reviewing what happened and then will determine if we have to make any changes to our on-court security procedures," Curry said.
When Nadal finished beating Gael Monfils, the spectator ran out of the stands and approached the Spanish star on the sideline before security guards intervened. It's the latest in a series of similar episodes at major tennis events, including when a man went up to Roger Federer during the French Open final and tried to place a hat on his head.
"For me, it wasn't a problem. The guy was really nice," Nadal said. "He said, 'I love you,' and he kissed me."
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/tennis/09/09/nadal.fan.ap/index.html?eref=si_tennis#ixzz0QcmJQ9Mt
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
POSITIVE RESULT
Check-out time finally came for Jesse Witten.
He spent two weeks at Flushing Meadows, the first working his way through U.S. Open qualifying and the second pulling off two upsets, then putting a scare into No. 4 Novak Djokovic before finally bowing out.
Could this run, which ended with a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3 loss to Djokovic on Saturday, be a career changer for the 276th-ranked player?
"I hope it is, because I mean, I don't want to deal with being ranked 200, 300 anymore," Witten said. "It would be nice to be able to use this."
Players ranked 200 or 300 travel alone, get few perks and often find themselves in the spot Witten was in earlier in the week, when he and a few buddies who came to watch him all crashed in his hotel room in Manhattan. A night or two, they figured. Instead, the stay lasted a whole week, the fan base grew and Witten found himself trying to parcel out his allotment of 22 tickets.
"Finally, I'm like, 'OK, I can't do it,"' he said. "I put one of them in charge of it."
Witten earned $48,000 for his trip through qualifying and into the third round. His ranking will rise about 70 spots, as well. It will keep him in the game - not always a given for a 26-year-old four-time NCAA All-American from Kentucky.
"It makes me want to keep playing. It gives me some money to keep playing," he said. "I love tennis. I love competing. It's a tough lifestyle, obviously, when you're in the lower levels."
AP
Saturday, September 5, 2009
WITTEN BELONGS
Seven months after he nearly gave up the game and two weeks after he was dropped by his clothing sponsor, American Jesse Witten gave the world's fourth-best player a huge scare at the U.S. Open on Saturday.
The 26-year-old, who needed a wildcard to even get into the Open's qualifying event, served for a two-sets-to-one lead in their third-round encounter before the Serb finally scraped through 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-4.
In his on-court speech, Djokovic admitted it must have been hard to distinguish which one of them was the world number four, while the 276th-ranked Witten said his $48,000 paycheck would allow him to compete more.
"It makes me want to keep playing," Witten said. "It gives me some money to keep playing. So now I can afford to keep playing for the rest of the year, at least."
At the start of the year, Witten was struggling on the Futures circuit - two levels below the main tour - and considering hanging up his rackets.
To add insult to injury, the day before the qualifying event was due to begin at Flushing Meadows, Witten was dropped by his clothing sponsor.
But he battled through three matches to qualify for the main draw and his two wins - over Igor Andreev and Maximo Gonzalez - will take him up around 100 places when the new rankings are released after the U.S. Open.
"I don't want to deal with being ranked 200, 300 anymore," he said. "It would be nice to be able to use this. It helps to see where I am, playing with some guys that are in the top 100 and top 10."
Once he had settled down, Witten was far from overawed against Djokovic as he hit back from 5-2 down to win the first set and served for the third set before eventually bowing out.
"The biggest thing for me usually is I feel like I don't belong," Witten said. "I never really said it or tell people that.
"Just in my mind, I don't know how good I am, so it's good to kind of see that I can play with these guys and I kind of belong a little bit here."
While the likes of world number one Roger Federer live it up in a $3,075 per night hotel suite in New York, Witten has been enjoying the more simple things in life at the Open.
"I don't have to worry about conserving one shirt," he said. "I can just go through them and just throw them in the laundry bag.
"You get chauffeured around with the cars. Everything is nice here. This is the best tournament in the world. You can't beat this."
REUTERS
WITTEN-DJOKOVIC CLOSE
Fourth seed Djokovic barely knew what hit him as he came face-to-face with a player who had never won a tour match before this week but American Jessie Witten thrilled the hollering home fans for almost 3-1/2 hours before he succumbed 6-7 6-3 7-6 6-4.
Being on a roll is something Witten had never experienced before this week.
Struggling to make ends meet on the lower echelons of tennis the 26-year-old came close to quitting the sport earlier this year. Things went from bad to worse on the eve of Open as he became a victim of the global credit crunch when he was dropped by his clothing sponsor.
But handed a wildcard into the qualifying draw, the 276th ranked Witten has made the most of his opportunity to get some free laundry done at the expense of U.S. Open organisers.
Domestic chores aside, for over an hour he responded to the rhythmic chants of "Jess-ie, Jess-ie" ringing around Louis Armstrong Stadium as he tormented a racket-bashing Djokovic.
But in the end, he did not have the firepower to subdue Djokovic, who applauded the American's heroics before telling the crowd. "It was hard to tell who was the number four player out there."
"Once I started playing, I mean, we're having rallies, and you don't really think of the rankings. You're thinking strategy more than numbers," said Witten, who had to request almost two dozen tickets from the organisers to satisfy the demands of his friends and family.
Despite his defeat, Witten hoped the biggest payday of his career -- $48,000 for reaching the last 32 - will allow him to prolong his career for "at least the rest of the year."
REUTERS
Friday, September 4, 2009
JESSE AND DJOKOVIC - 11 AM SAT
I know ---- Federer plays at 11 am too, but I'll be watching Jesse's match on atdhe.net
Try the full monitor view. The feed from the TENNIS CHANNEL is quite good.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
JESSE WITTEN
You can’t fault Jesse Witten for his timing.
The former Lely state tennis champion won his first ATP Tour singles match in seven tries on Tuesday morning ... in the men’s singles main draw of the U.S. Open.
Witten romped over No. 29 seed Igor Andreev of Russia in straight sets for a 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 first-round victory.
“I don’t know what’s happening,” Witten said. “The last couple of weeks I’ve been playing well, and I’m not even sure why. I’m just going to roll with it.
“I’m hitting the ball well,” he added. “I’m dictating play well without making a lot of errors. Everything is bugging a lot of guys, even a guy like him who is so good. I really don’t know what to say about it. I’m not going to argue it.”
Witten, 26, took the first set 6-4, and then shut out Andreev in the second. Andreev led the third, 2-1, before Witten broke him to take a 3-2 lead, then went on to close out the match.
Witten will face Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina in the second round. Gonzalez defeated Karol Beck 2-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday.
The winner between Gonzalez and Witten likely will face fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic in the third round.
Witten said he sought advice from John McEnroe, his World TeamTennis teammate, this week.
“We’ve gotten closer over the last five or six years,” Witten said. “He was trying to give me some pointers, helping me out. He usually doesn’t say too much when it comes to somebody else’s game or coaching like that. That meant a lot, just to know that he was there. And he called me after I qualified. It makes you feel appreciated and what you’re doing makes it worth it.”
Witten qualified for the Open on Saturday with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Austria’s Alexander Peya (No. 259). Witten, a former University of Kentucky All-American, is currently ranked No. 270 in the world.
In 2006, Witten qualified for the U.S. Open but lost to Paul Goldstein in the first round of the main draw. His career-high ranking came in October 2006 when he reached No. 171.
Witten reached the final of the NCAA Championships as a sophomore in 2002 and was a first-team All-SEC singles selection all four years and Kentucky’s first five-time All-American (four singles; one doubles).
NAPLES DAILY
WITTEN EXTENDS HIS STAY IN NY
Jesse Witten's pals from his days at the University of Kentucky are going to be sticking around at the U.S. Open longer than they expected.
And longer than he did, too.
The 276th-ranked Witten earned the first tour-level victory of his career Tuesday at Flushing Meadows, upsetting No. 29-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.
Witten is originally from Naples, Fla., and he played college tennis at Kentucky, reaching the NCAA singles championship match in 2002. He's struggled at times as a pro, even considering moving on to another career not long ago, but he stuck with it — and when he plays in important tournaments, he can count on a rooting section.
"Whenever I get to a big show, they're definitely there. They're always supporting me," Witten said of his college buddies.
He packed about five people into his room in New York this week — "Don't tell the hotel," he said with a smile — and now that Witten has a Grand Slam match victory to his credit, their stay in the Big Apple has been extended.
As Witten prepared to face Andreev, he said, "everybody seemed to be my coach the last few days."
One particular person provided some advice that stood out, though.
"I hit with John McEnroe the other day, and he was really being helpful," Witten said. "He was trying to give me pointers."
They worked, apparently.
AP
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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